In the Hands of a Swordsman
by GeneratedName101
Summary: Lune loves Yuki. Haru thinks she loves Baron. But the Cat King has other plans. As a duel between father and son decides the fate of a young woman, what will happen when the dual goes wrong? Very wrong!
1. The Duel

**Hello friends! I've decided that this will be my primary story I'll be working on. If you prefer the other one, just let me know. Anyways, this one is a bit dark so fair warning.**

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Haru never really had an extraordinary life. Sure she went on vacations sometimes and her mother was a semi-famous quilter, but nothing special happened to her. That all changed one eventful April afternoon. It had begun like a normal day. Haru woke up late, sprinted to school, came in late, and barely endured her sophomore classes. After the usual torture that was school, she was walking home with her best friend Hiromi when she noticed a strange cat attempting to cross the street. She had an uneasy feeling when the cat began crossing the street, and her suspicions were confirmed when the cat dropped the box it was carrying and the light changed to green. Without thinking, Haru stole her friends lacrosse stick and bolted across the street, swooping up the cat and it's box just before being squashed by a giant truck. Little did she know how much that decision would change both of their lives forever.

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Haru had been through a long day. First, she had been awoken by Hiromi, who was screaming about something about 233 lacrosse sticks, and then Haru's own mother scream about mice. After she got out of the house, the school day was normal, besides the fact she was chased there by cats. After another painful day of school let out. She was asked by Hiromi to take over her trash duty so she could watch her boyfriend's table tennis game. Haru gladly accepted, but was met by a talking cat after she had stumbled over some construction tape. The cat had said something along the lines of "Your final gift is the prince's paw in marriage. You are a very lucky girl you know." That had caught Haru's attention quick, realizing that the cat she saved was a prince, somewhere. Her response was a clear "Thank you for the offer, but no." Sadly, that cat only heard what it wanted to hear, and later that same night, she was in the Cat Kingdom.

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Haru and her new friends had made it to the tower containing the portal back to the Human World. They stopped to catch their breath only for a second, and then began climbing the stairs that spiraled on the outside. They got to the top fairly easily, with only one delay being some cat guards that came to stop them, only to be stopped by a crumbling section of the stairwell that gave way under the weight of the guards. Once they got to the top of the outer staircase, they realized that there was a taller, inner staircase. They were about to begin climbing the second set of stairs when they heard the BOOM. A BOOM that would echo in Haru's mind forever.

After the dust finally settled, Haru looked up to see the familiar slimy fur and sickening grin. She immediately kicked his legs to knock him down and stood up herself.

"Still? Haven't I made it clear that I don't want to get married?" She yelled at the Cat King while sneaking a glance at Baron. ' _At least, not yet.'_

"But you'll get a crown on your head, babe." the Cat King replied, not so subtly eyeing her up.

"You don't care about your son's happiness OR mine! You just want him to marry me so you have an excuse to hang around me because you think I'm hot!"

"Maybe," the Cat King replied slyly.

"Father! What happened!?"

Haru turned to look at the newcomer, who had just arrived with a few guards surrounding him. 'That must be the prince,' The cat had the same mismatched eyes as his father, and the fur color was similar, but not quite the same. She could immediately tell he was the kind of cat that cared about others, not just himself. She could also tell he did not know about the arranged marriage.

"Hey son," the king said, standing up and brushing of the dust that was trapped in his unkempt fur. "look at this babe I found for you!" His grin came back to his face, which made Haru want to throw up in disgust.

"What do you mean, found for me?"

"Well I noticed that you weren't courting anyone, so I decided to pick one out for you,"

Lune looked straight into his father's eyes, almost scaring the king. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm courting Yuki,"

The Cat King's eyes became filled with anger. "I will not allow my only son to marry a lowly servant! You WILL marry this fine girl I've picked for you! If you don't agree, I'll just have to challenge you to a duel."

Knowing that he could beat his father in a heartbeat, Lune accepted. Realizing the fear on Haru's face, Baron leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. An action which surprised everyone, even Baron himself.

"Don't worry Haru, Lune is the best fencer in the Cat Kingdom. After he wins, we'll take you back home and back to your original form. However, that wouldn't mean that you couldn't stop by and vis-"

Baron's sentence was cut short by the sound of metal meeting marble. Everyone stared in shock as they looked at the victor. The Cat King was standing triumphantly with an evil grin on his face. Lune was lying on his back, did weird halfway across the room. Haru's, Baron's, and Lune's faces fell as they remembered what the conditions were.

Through a few tears, Lune turned to Haru and asked "Now that we're bound for life, may I catch your name?"

Haru, knowing there was no way out of her dreadful position, replied with "Haru. I'm the one that saved your life,"

Lune looked at his father and stared with disbelief. "You married me of to a HUMAN!?"

The Cat King could barely control his laughter.

"Not anymore," he said gleefully.

Haru looked down at herself, realizing that she was now 100% a cat. She looked up through the portal, realizing that it wasn't dawn, but it was in fact already 9 a.m. Her tears began falling faster. She looked at her fiancee and gasped out one final question.

"21. And you?"

She couldn't answer the question. Her tears became a waterfall. She sat in that room on the ex-tower sobbing for hours. 'How could he?' she though. 'How could that king marry her of like that. She didn't have consent! She wasn't a subject of his! And most importantly, she was a minor. She was 15, and would be that way for another month.


	2. The Contract

**Hello again! I don't really have anything to say here other than a shout I forgot to give to Rose. ! You've done a good job of motivating me and I wanted to thank you for following me. Also thank you to vxiko to being the first follower of the story and so quickly! It really boost my confidence to make another chapter as soon as possible!**

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A middle aged redhead paced the floor of her living room floor. 'She's never THIS late,' the woman thought. Sure she was clumsy and had slipped on the sidewalk a few times, knocking her out, but someone always called her, to let her know that her daughter was taken to the hospital and was being treated. But tonight, nothing. She watched the hours slowly ticked by, or were they minutes? She couldn't tell. Suddenly, a knock on her door caused her to jump. 'Who could it be, this late at night? Was it Haru?'

Eager to find out who it was, she opened the door, and was surprised to see an unfamiliar mailman holding a letter. The letter had a wax seal with a cat in a crown on it. She noticed there was no return address.

"Is this the Yoshioka household?"

Confused, the redhead replied with a "Yes. Who is this letter from?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that…"

"Well I can't answer this letter without a return address or a name, so-" She was cut off when she looked up from the letter handed to her, to see that the mailman had suddenly disappeared.

Ignoring the strangeness mailman, she decided to investigate the stranger thing in her hand. She opened the letter and read it silently to herself.

 _Dear mom,_

 _I won't be coming home today, or anytime soon. Even if I ever do come home, I will not be the same. Nor will our relationship. I'm with a nice guy right now, and he would never dare do anything to me. His father, though, is a different story. I can't tell you where I am, or what happened to me. It would be easier on me, and maybe for you, to just forget that I ever existed and leave it at that._

 _Farewell, Haru_

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Haru awoke to the sound her phone ringing, which was strange, because her phone was only at half volume, and she often slept through her alarm clock when it was on full volume. She got out of bed and headed over to the night stand where she charged her phone, only to find it wasn't there. Not only her phone, but the nightstand too. She looked around her room, and realised nothing was the same. Then she remembered her dream from last night. It hadn't been a dream.

Haru began sobbing. Crying harder than she ever thought possible, even harder than she had last night. She had convinced herself that everything was a dream. The King, Lune, Natoru, the kingdom, the duel, the letter. She even convinced herself that Baron wasn't real. Thinking about this broke her heart. It wasn't love at first sight, she knew that wasn't possible, but that combined with the voice, the way he acted, the way he tried to help Haru escape from the kingdom. Once they had gotten out safely, she would have told him how she felt, how she had loved him. But that didn't happen, and she was bound to someone else for life. Deciding to put that thought away, she went over to her phone, which she figured she had heard with her new cat ears. When she looked at her phone, however, her heart stopped. She had 400+ messages from friends and family, but mainly her mom. Also, she had 32 missed calls, 27 of which were from her mom. With shaking hands, she picked up her phone and called her mom back.

It didn't even ring, like the only thing she was doing was staring at her phone.

"HARU YOSHIOKA! WHY HAVEN'T YOU ANSWERED MY CALLS? WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU HURT? HAVE YOU BEEN KIDNAPPED? HAVE YO-"

The redheaded woman on the other side of the phone stopped questioning her daughter when she heard the sobs. She froze, knowing that those tears were of pure sadness, and not being scolded. Her voice filled with dread as she asked her next question.

"Did you mean what you said in that letter? Everything?"

Haru's tears fell faster. She wondered if she would ever run out. She said one word. One word that broke her heart to say.

"Yes,"

Tears began streaming down Naoko's face as well, knowing what her daughter said was truth.

"I know you said you couldn't sweetie, but could you please try to tell me what happened,"

"I'm sorry mom, but-"

"That can be arranged," The new voice said. Just hearing it made Haru want to cry more. She turned to see the slimy, dirty, disgusting, (and other unpleasant things Haru said in her mind) Cat King.

"You could!?" Naoko's voice was relieved. She didn't know that that the cat behind the voice was the cause of all her daughter's troubles.

"Mom! He's the one behind all my troubles! He's the reason I can't see you anymore! He's the reason I'm a-"

The Cat King clasped his filthy paw over Haru's mouth. He couldn't let her spill the beans. That was valuable information that could be sold.

"I will let you know what I have done to your daughter, and even let her visit once every other week. If she is willing to pay the price."

"WHAT PRIC-" Naoko heard a beep. The voice had hung up. What kind of price could her daughter pay? Would she pay? She hoped with all her heart that she would, not knowing that she would regret her act of selfishness for the rest of her life.

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The paw let go of Haru's mouth, finally allowing her to breathe. She stared in disgust at her captor. But she couldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

"What's your price?"

The king grinned and chuckled, knowing he had hit her soft spot.

"You will have to sleep in the same bed as Lune for the rest of your life or his, kiss him full on the lips in public at least twice a day, and change in the same room as him."

Haru gasped, and her tears came back again. This time, she was able to hide them. She didn't want to condemn Lune like this, but what choice did she have? Suddenly a contract appeared in front of her along with a quill. She read and reread the contract multiple times to make sure she wasn't getting tricked into anything. She even brought out a magnifying glass to look for fine print. After she was as satisfied with the terms as she would ever be, she reluctantly signed to paper, feeling guilty about not asking Lune about this choice. She dismissed the thought though, however, knowing the king wouldn't take anything farther than this. Sadly, she didn't know the king that well yet.

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 **Yeah, it gets darker. Also please review and be sure to tell me which story you prefer. I have a story idea lined up after this but I am open to suggestions. Your fan fiction friend, GeneratedName101!**


	3. The Meeting

**I'm back! Sorry for this not coming as soon as the other ones, I just don't have a set schedule and I have a tendency to think about the climax of the story without figuring out how to get there, which causes me to lose interest in things. Thankfully, I hate unfinished fan fictions and I will try to finish this one and maybe the other one. Also I think it goes without saying that I own nothing…**

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'What price was that person talking about?' The red headed woman known as Naoko was having trouble contemplating what had just happened. 'Why did Haru not want to see me anymore? And why did her captor give her the chance to visit me for a price? Oh what was the price!?' She could tell from the tone in the captors voice that the price wasn't money. She could tell it was something that Haru didn't have to give up. Not physically at least. Then she started to wonder why the captor was keeping Haru, and not asking for a ransom. She shuddered at the thought of what the captor wanted. Suddenly, a blue portal appeared in the room that Naoko was in, and three cats walked out.

One cat walked in first. He (she guessed) had an unnaturally purple-gray fur that was unkempt, making him appear a stray if it wasn't for the golden collar and the weird eye shaped gem on his head. He also had mismatched eyes, and that was a rarity in humans, but cats! She had never seen that. The other two cats walked in side by side behind the first cat, both looking sad. She didn't know how she could tell that they were sad, but she could just sense it. One of the cats looked similar to the one in front, but with shorter, neater, and darker fur. He even had the same mismatched eyes. She presumed that they were related, maybe even father and son.

The last cat she looked at was slightly smaller than the one next to her, and had dark brown eyes. Instead of being one solid color, the fur on her from the top of her head to her tail was medium brown, while her underside was a light tan. She looked just like she was out of kittenhood but still had a few childish features. Naoko could clearly see streaks in her fur, presumably from tears. This causes her to look at the cat's eyes again and see the sadness in them. It wasn't a light sadness either, but more like she witnessed her entire family get murdered in front of her. Naoko was too distracted by the brown cat's eyes that she didn't notice the fish necklace in front of her.

'Oh,' she thought. She was surprised to see it and didn't know what to do. But when she saw the first cat paw it with what seemed like an evil grin on his face, she decided to put it on. She suddenly heard a loud, ear piercing ringing which slowly faded away. As it faded away, she heard voices.

"Finally," an unidentified impatient voice spoke, "I thought I was going to have to force that thing on you. I guess humans aren't as dumb as a thought."

Upon hearing the last line, she looked down at the cat that had given her the necklace. He grinned wickedly.

"Y- y- you can talk!?" Naoko managed to sputter "Or is that the purpose of this thing?" she said, pointing to the necklace.

"Of course we can! You know that? I thought it was common knowledge,"

"Actually grandfather," Lune interrupted "times have changed since the last time we were here. Also, they have tamed these strange beasts too. One almost trampled me."

"This is probably a dumb question," Naoko knew the answer was probably not what she was thinking, but it couldn't hurt to ask. "But how old are you?"

The second cat, the son, Naoko figured, answered. "I am 21, and my grandfather is 63"

Shocked, Naoko stood dumbfounded, not believing her ears "How?"

"Well, you see," Lune had taken over answering the questions, because his grandfather was too busy staring of into space, deep in thought with a smile on his face. "we come from the Cat Kingdom, which is a different world entirely, so lifespans might not match up."

"I'm sorry, it's just that in this world, we keep cats as pets, and they only live about 16 years or so. I was just shocked by that, that's all. Hey!"

Lune looked up in surprise, confused at what the sudden exclamation. He waited for her to continue.

"If we have pet cats, do you have pet humans? That is probably a silly question, but I was wondering,"

Lune looked uncomfortable at the question, but he knew he had to answer. "We don't have humans as pets, however, the roy-"

"Wait, you said we tamed a strange beast. Did you mean car?"

"Ah yes I've heard that that was the name of those beasts."

"How do you not know what a car is? They've been around longer than 20 years."

Lune stood there dumbstruck as he tried to decipher what was said. Then it dawned on him, and it made him shudder.

"What?" Naoko asked, noticing the shake.

"I just realized something that no one has figured out in generations. I just need to ask you one question,"

"Go on…"

"Is your age two digits?"

"Of course it is!"

"Are you **certain**?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because my age is misleading. I am not actually 21. I am 2100 years old, every cat just rounds it to two digits to make it simpler. Now that I know this that causes a slight problem with our family's lineage."

Naoko was shocked but managed to snap out of it for one question. "Why is that?"

The king broke out of his daydream and spoke right before Lune did. "Because, babe, we royals have to marry human brides. You're daughter made an excellent bride for my grandson, and I think you will make an excellent second wife to me." He spoke it with a sick grin on his face.

Naoko had forgotten about the third cat, but when she looked over again, she realized what happened to her daughter, even though she didn't know how. The cat stared back at her with the saddest eyes she had ever seen. Naoko knew something had to be done, so she turned to the king and shouted at the top of her lungs, "I WILL NOT MARRY YOU!"

The king could only laugh. "Funny, your daughter thought the same thing."

And with that, a blue portal opened up underneath them and they all tumbled in.

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 **FINALLY! I'm sorry this took forever, I was just really busy and had also lost motivation. However, I hate unfinished stories so this one will most likely be completed. The ending of this chapter was a bit rushed so if you think there is an improvement that could be made please let me know. Your fan fiction friend, GeneratedName101!**


	4. The Explanation

**Guess who's back! Me. Who else would it be? There is this one part of the story that I've been thinking about that will be really interesting to write. It is a few chapters away but I think I'll use that as motivation. Here is Chapter 4 and please remember to review. Seriously, I need to know if you guys like this story.**

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Naoko was sucked into the blue portal that opened in her living room before she even had the chance to scream. To her, it felt like going down a drain of blue light. Somewhere during her journey she lost consciousness. When she woke up she was in an unfamiliar room, similar to a jail cell. 'Wait a minute? Jail cell? What even happened to me?'

She tried to remember everything that had happened. 'Let's see, my daughter disappeared, she left a note, I called her, and three cats showed up at my house,'

'Those cats! They kidnapped me! Or well, the first one did at least. The other cats seemed as shocked as her by the sudden announcement by the cat. What was it again?' She had to think for a moment, her memory being fuzzy. 'Marriage! The cat wanted to **marry** her? How would that even work, with her being a human?'

As she sat there contemplating how a marriage like that would work, she couldn't help but feel that something was off, besides being in a cell-like room. Her arms felt heavy, not from being tire, but something else. She looked down to find her paws chained to the wall behind her. 'Why would I be chained to the wall of a dungeon before I'm going to get married? Do they think it's because I'm going to escape?' Still, something else felt wrong about her arms, so she looked down again and screamed.

"I'M A CAT! I'm a cat, I'm a cat, I'm a cat," This continued for a few minutes as she curled up into a ball-like form, being restricted by the chains. After a few more minutes a pure white cat came in the cell with food, noticed she was awake, and swiftly ran out.

"No! Don't leave me! I need answers!"

She continued to cry until she noticed the three cats from earlier walk into the cell. Two of them looked extremely sad, while the other looked extremely happy. After seeing the eldest cat, she flew into a rage fit for several minutes. Everything the three cats tried failed until the brown cat spoke.

"Mom, please calm down,"

The cats seemed surprised when that actually worked on her. And although she did calm, if you looked into her eyes you could see the urge to scream harder.

Through tears, she asked, "Haru, what did those two cats do to you?"

After hearing the accusation, the brown cat grabbed the cleaner gray cat defensively and shoved the older, messier cat forward.

"Lune had nothing to do with this. He is in just as much pain as I am. This **monster** is the one behind all this."

The new cat was surprised they her daughter was so protective of only one of the cats, but she trusted her daughter and, through a dangerous hiss, asked the king for an explanation.

He seemed only slightly fazed, but quickly recovered and confidently gave his answer, like it would calm her.

"I rescued both you and your daughter from your mundane human life and gave you a life full of unlimited pleasure as both a cat **and** royal! You must be so pleased that you don't have to be a human anym-"

The cat king made the mistake of getting to close to the new cat, and she took the opportunity. Despite being chained up, she was able to kick the Cat King. Hard. He yelped in surprise and growled with anger.

"You are going to regret that, babe. I am not only your king, but your fiance as well. You need to learn how to respect me,"

After he said that, he slapped Naoko across the face. Instead of making her submissive like the king thought it would, it just enraged her further.

"I don't know what your customs are, but where I come from, you do not slap a woman! Or anyone in fact! And **me** , respect **you**! That is hilarious! You took away my daughter from me, turned her into a cat for some reason, and kidnapped me too! Also what is all of this 'marrying a royal' thing going on. Where's the royal here?"

The Cat King seemed to be getting impatient, but his grandson seemed to have a plan.

"Grandfather, please," The cat turned toward the prisoner and gave a slight "shhh" gesture before continuing, "her human mind is inferior to ours, so she cannot begin to grasp her countless benefits of being here explained by **you**. Please leave the room so she can focus on the explanation rather than your glory."

Naoko was disgusted at first, but she figured that cat, the older cat's grandson, was just appealing to his ego to make him go away so she stayed silent, which she was secretly thankful for.

"Ah yes I see. Maybe if explained simpler and by a lower rank, then she will be able to comprehend the countless benefits of marrying me."

The Cat King left, and once all the cats were sure he was gone, they let out a sigh of relief.

The brown cat, Haru, stepped forward.

"I'm guessing you want an explanation, mother?"

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Haru looked a bit nervous, but she knew she had to do it. She owed her mother an explanation for what happened. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak.

"Well it all started on Tuesday when I was walking home with Hiromi and I saw a strange looking cat," The grey cat seemed to flinch slightly, but besides that nothing happened. "the cat was holding a package in its mouth and began crossing the road when it dropped it right as a truck was barreling forwards it. Without thinking, I stole Hiromi's lacrosse stick and scooped up the cat just in time." It was Naoko's turn to flinch. She knew her daughter was reckless with her own life when others were in danger, but that didn't mean that she wasn't concerned. "I broke Hiromi's stick, but besides that I was ok. The real shocker was when the cat stood up and thanked me."

"That cat was me," Lune wasn't about to let his unwilling fiancée explain the whole thing. "and i would like to thank you for saving my life, Haru. Even though it ended up like this." He turned his focus on Haru while saying this, sincere gratitude on his feline features. "Anyways, I said I would be back to personally thank her and left with my package. I couldn't return my thanks, however, because I am a military general and there was a 'conflict' near the edge of the kingdom. Unbeknownst to me, my father, the Cat King, came in the middle of your night to thank her."

"I knew I heard meowing!" Naoko interrupted. As soon as she realized her mistake, she slapped a paw to her tiny cat mouth. "I'm so sorry. Please continue,"

Haru gave a light laugh. One that showed a bit of humor, but subtle enough to keep with the tone. "Don't worry mother, you interrupting is the least of our worries." She gave a sas smile when she said that. A smile that broke her mother's heart. "The next day was the day I got the 'gifts'. The cattails, mice, catnip perfume. The list goes on. I was chased to school by cats that were after the catnip that was in my pockets, and when I got to school I found mice in my gym locker. They day continued like that until Hiromi asked me to take over her duty as clean up for that day. I figured I needed a break from everything that happened that day. That turned out to be a big mistake because one of the servants to me to ask about my opinions on the gifts." Haru had to take a break from talking to give a chuckle. "I gave him a piece of my mind, that's for sure. But then he offered Lune's hand in marriage. He said I would be taken to the Cat Kingdom and then I would marry him. I was down in the dumps that day so I said that life as a cat wouldn't be to bad. Getting to relax all day and stuff,"

Lune stared at her in confusion while Naoko stared in horror. 'My daughter, wanting to become a cat? Leaving me and her life behind for a complete stra-'

"But then I realized that was a bad idea. I told him that a marriage between a human and cat wouldn't work, and that I didn't know Lune that well. And although I thought it, I didn't mention how traumatic leaving this life behind would be. However, he thought my thinking out loud was a yes, and he ran off to tell the king my 'decision'. That was when I heard a voice. It told me to go to the crossroads, find a white cat, and follow him to the Cat Bureau. I didn't know what to do so I did what the voice told me to do. I eventually found the white cat," she said, avoiding the fact that she sat on him first. "and he led me to the crossroads, just like promised. There I met a crow named Toto and a half cat named Baron."

Haru's eyes showed a hint of sadness. Lune could tell she had feelings for him and even that Baron had feelings for her. 'Love at first sight doesn't exist,' Lune told himself, remembering his mother's words. 'but love at first impression can.' If Haru wanted to marry a cat, Lune knew it would be Baron. Maybe she would have changed her mind at the top of the tower or sometime later.

"They gave me some tea and swore to help protect me, but there was nothing they could do when 20 cats stormed through the front door and carried me away. They didn't give up on me though, and they rescued me after 5 hours of transformations, gown fittings, and boring entertainment. We ran into some trouble, however, when we realized the only portal back to the human world was surrounded by a labyrinth. It took us about another 5 hours to get through that. It might have been quicker if the king didn't have servants blocking the way to the tower. The tower had two parts to it, one with an out her staircase and one with an inner. When we all got to the top of the first section, the bottom of the tower blew up and collapsed, leaving us at ground level. That's when the Cat King arrived with multiple guards and prevented us from leaving."

"Then I arrived. I had been sent off on an important mission only to find there was none. My own grandfather sent me away so I wouldn't know about his plan to marry me to Haru until the wedding night. He did this because I already had a bride in mind. Her name is Yuki, but he didn't want me to marry her because she was a servant. I challenged him to duel, but lost." He looked up at Naoko with tears forming in his eyes. "It's my fault, I overestimated my abilities and now not only do I have a wife I don't want but now you are here too. Your daughter seems like a wonderful person and I have no objections to marrying her based on her personality, just the fact that we **had** a species difference, I don't know her, and I already love someone else."

Haru was crying a bit too. "I'm glad you feel the same way. If I had to marry a cat, it would most certainly be you. But that does not mean I would."

Now that they were finished, Naoko decided it was then to ask questions. "Can we sneak out of here? I know part of the tower is blown up, but is it possible?"

Lune saddened slightly more, "There are multiple reasons we can't. First, the tower was completely destroyed as soon as we got back from visiting you. Second, once a human stays here until their sunrise, the changes become permanent, and you have been asleep for 8 hours. Third, my grandfather tricked us. He said the necklace was to prevent you from fainting once we talked, but instead not only did accepting it legally bind you to him, but also prevents you from leaving the castle."

This caused Naoko to weep. She couldn't believe her triangular ears. She was stuck like this forever. Or at least a few thousand years. The Cat King reentered the cell once he heard the conversation stop. He had obviously been listening in. The slick grin on his face said he was up to something again.

"Haru, Lune," he addressed, "I am willing to amend our agreements. Because my beautiful wife is here now, the once every two weeks visitation seems outrageous. I mean, how could I miss my daughter-in-law for two whole weeks? So, can we rework the terms?"

Lune looked at Haru. Because he addressed both of them, they figured both had made an agreement. They slowly nodded at each other, and opened their ears to listen for the new terms.

"I will allow you visit my wife as often as you like and I will let Baron and Yuki keep their jobs without punishment. In return, you agree to marry each other, sleep with each other in Lune's bed, and Haru must give up wearing clothing unless for a formal function, like a normal cat."

Lune gave a nervous glance to his fiancée. Her eyes were wide in shock and fear, but there were no tears forming. It was obvious that the idea of marrying already was terrifying, but more do than never seeing your mother? "What happens if we don't agree?"

The king's slick grin grew even wider. Are at which didn't seem possible. "Yuki, Baron, and all other associates are tried for treason. Instead of the death penalty, however, they are sentenced to life in prison with no bail. In jail they are tortured, beaten, and starved. My wife suffers a terrible accident that leaves her very weak. So weak that she cannot leave my side ever. So weak that she cannot speak or defend herself from any **attackers** ,"

The three of them stared at each other in absolute horror. Not just because they picked up the hint that was dropped, but also at just how cruel and twisted the King could be.

Haru could barely speak. She was afraid that if she did, she would burst out in tears. But she spoke anyway, "Is there no other way out of this?"

"Nope. Those are your only two options. Now would you rather let your friends endure thousands of years of nonstop torture or marry each other?"

Haru exchanged glances with Lune. Their eyes met and Haru mouthed 'are you sure?' Lune gave an ever so slight nod that changed their faded forever.

"We'll agree to your terms," Lune spoke with regret in his eyes.

"Excellent!" the King exclaimed, while three contracts materialized. Two if them ripped in half, and continued to do so until they vanished. The third one, however, did not vanish but instead grew closer to the cat couple. Two quills appeared next to the contract, and both Lune and Haru slowly reached for them. Haru signed almost as soon as she grabbed the quill, wanting to protect her mother and friends, but Lune hesitated. He didn't want to give in to his father, knowing that if he got this, he would get more. But he couldn't do this to his Yuki, so he signed too.

"Now that this is settled," the King said with a smirk "I think you guys deserve a nice long rest. Now off to bed!"

As soon as the king said those words, the two cats had a sudden, irresistible urge to walk to Lune's bedroom.

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 **In case you haven't figured this out yet, I write these announcements before and after I finish the chapter because I kind of write this as I go. Another result of this is plot holes. If you spot any please message me or leave a review and I will fix it. I have already noticed the father/grandfather thing and that will be fixed. Also I'm sorry for letting the fans of Too Late down. I just have no direction motivation for that story. Please don't forget to review. I know I say this a lot but I really need to know how you guys like this story. -GeneratedName101.**


	5. Chapter 5

**No idea what to write here so here comes chapter 5…**

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Haru was tired. Really tired. But she would never admit it, because that would result in her falling asleep next to an almost stranger. One of a different species, too. 'Originally of different species,' Haru reminded herself. 'there's no going back now. You know that and you need to start identifying as a cat.' Suddenly she was pulled towards Lune's bedroom against her will. At first she thought it had something to do with the contract she just read and signed, but then realized it was just guards escorting them out of the cell. Haru turned back to see another guard escorting her mother, off to who knows where. But inside, she did know. It was to the King's royal bedroom where she would most likely make a lasting memory that she wished she could forget.

"Your mother will be fine, Haru. My grandfather won't be able to do anything to her besides sleep with her. Until their married that is."

Haru turned to see her unwilling husband-to-be. "And after our weddings? What will we do then? What will change?"

Lune sighed and looked at Haru. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You signed the contract rather quickly, so I'm guessing you don't know what you are getting into being princess and eventually queen?"

"Oh no! I have to attend royal meetings and balls. What ever will I do?" Haru said in a sarcastic voice. "I don't really want to marry a stranger, but I would do anything for my mother. Even court meetings."

Lune gave a sad chuckle, and then sighed. "I'm guessing the queen doesn't hold much power in your world also?"

"We don't even have many monarchies anymore. Almost all countries have either gotten rid of the monarch or have only kept them as a national symbol,

"No monarchies? How do you govern then? I'm intrigued,"

"It's called democracy, and the common people vote for their leader or multiple leaders to make decisions instead of a king that they didn't choose,"

"Even as a royal, I think that's a much better idea, even if the current king happened to be good. Don't mention it to my grandfather, however. He would not like that idea at all."

Haru nodded at her husband-to-be, but then something clicked in her mind. "When I first heard you, you addressed your grandfather as 'father', but know you've stopped, was it a slip of the tongue or…"

"My parents died when I was really young. I never even knew them. So my grandparents raised me and I didn't find out that they were my grandparents until I was 1300 years old. I had gotten so used to calling them mother and father that I kept calling them that. But now after what he's done to not only you and your mother, but me too, I'm not so sure I want to even be related at all to my 'father'," They walked in silence for a while, going up and down seemingly endless corridors, until Lune spoke again. "Back to our previous topic, however, you were right about not having many duties as a royal, but you have plenty of other, non royalty related duties,"

"Oh? What would those be?"

"You need to-" Lune paused mid-sentence and turned to face an entryway covered with a curtain on the right side of the hallway. Haru did the same. "Were here,"

Lune walked through the curtain and into his bedroom and just before Haru entered the room, she heard a groan of displeasure.

"Now this is just over the top,"

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Haru slipped through the curtain as well and was surprised to see a good portion of the room empty. She watched as Lune walked to the rather small bed in the room and pick up a piece of paper.

"If you don't mind, may I see the note as well?" Haru had to ask. Lune just handed the note over without saying a word.

 _Dear Lune,_

 _Now that you have your beautiful fiancee, I figured that you would want to get closer to her. Because of this, I replaced your bed with a new one that allows this. I hope you enjoy._

 _Father_

"I'm confused, Lune,"

"That rat replaced my bed. I originally had a much larger one that I didn't want because it was too big for one cat. I only agreed to share a bed because i was expecting my old one."

Haru took a second glance at the bed in question. Now that she looked at it, it was **small**! It was so small that it appeared to barely be able to fit one person/cat, let alone two. She had also expected a large bed, but now that she saw this, she knew there was always going to be an another motive for the king when he agreed to something.

Lune began his nightly routine, so Haru followed. After everything had been taken care of, Lune went to the bed and got under the elegant silk sheets. Haru was about to do the same, but then she got an idea.

"Haru, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to sleep with my head down here, so we don't have to be next to each other."

As Haru began to lay in the bed, she felt like the bed was on fire. At first it was tolerable, but after less than a minute she jumped out and cried out in pain.

"Haru? Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just that when I went to lie down, the bed seemed to feel like it was on fire. It probably sounds stupid but-"

"No. It's not stupid. He probably put a spell on the bed to prevent that," Lune sighed, "Just come sleep next to me,"

"But I barely know you!"

"Haru," Lune said with a new, serious undertone, "I've been thinking about this ever since the duel. We are going to be spending the rest of our lives together! Don't you think we should at least try to get closer to each other? I'm not asking you to love me, and, no offense, but I don't love you either. I'm just saying that we shouldn't fight this."

"That- that makes sense,"

Convinced, Haru crawled into the bed next to Lune. The bed was small, however, and forced Haru to press up against Lune and hold on to him. She felt weird, sleeping naked next to an almost stranger, but she felt comfortable next to him. Their bodies seemed to fit together perfectly, and she swore she could hear Lune purr with contempt.

'Maybe this **can** work out.' She thought.

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 **Sorry, but this story has come to a temporary end. I could easily continue it but I lack motivation and have found myself straying from the community. I have received permission from YarningChick to reboot an old story of hers so that could be a future story. Unless any if you really want to see this story continued, it probably won't happen. Please let me know, however, and comments are welcomed (and encouraged) - GeneratedName101**


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